Yes, The Phantom Pain Is Almost Certainly Metal Gear Solid V

During the early hours of this morning, we hypothesised that The Phantom Pain trailer debuted during the Spike VGAs probably had something to do with Metal Gear Solid. If nothing else, the trailer’s main character shared a striking resemblance to Snake, even down to scars and minor details. It turns out that there’s a lot more evidence than that, though.

For starters, the ‘Phantom’ reference ties into a promotional poster released for Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, which notes: “Two Phantoms were born.” In addition, at the start of the trailer, the character has a vision of white petals which mirrors the scene from the conclusion of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Even Volgrin appears to get in on the action.

The biggest hint of all, though, comes in the form of the game’s logo itself. The Phantom Pain text has areas chopped out of it, which provides the perfect space to place the words ‘Metal Gear Solid V’.

Of course, this is all in addition to initial speculation which noted that Moby Dick Studio’s founder – the supposed "developer" of The Phantom Pain – is named Joakim Mogren, an anagram of Kojima. Apparently, Konami representatives were wearing The Phantom Pain t-shirts at the Spike VGAs last night, too.

Whatever the true meaning, one thing’s for certain: Hideo Kojima has not lost his touch.